Posted on 01/19/2013 11:06:58 AM PST by wintertime
Throughout the country, lawmakers have discussed expanding educational options for students by establishing charter schools or allowing public dollars to go to private schools. Yet bills that legislators proposed often failed to gain much traction; in part, because opponents of school choice often hail the traditional system where children are zoned for a local public school based on their address. Some view this method of delivering public education as the model because democratically elected officials control the schools on a local level. Though democratically controlled local school districts meet the needs of many students, they simply cannot satisfy the needs of all families. Many families, mine included, have found the traditional system to be frustrating and unresponsive.
In this essay, I describe the problem with the democratic process regarding public education from my perspective. You may be inclined to agree or disagree with my conclusions about math pedagogy after reading my story. Nevertheless, this story is not written to convince you one way or the other in terms of math instruction. Rather, my story illustrates the difficulties a parent faces when attempting to exact change in his childs school. In the 2011-12 school year, my children spent 100 days in a traditional public school. I did not anticipate pulling them in the middle of the year, but my wife and I could not come to terms with how the school was educating our children. We sought change, but in the end, we were left with only two options: subject our kids to a style of instruction we felt was ineffective or place our children in a private school. We chose the latter.
(Excerpt) Read more at educationnews.org ...
I’ve tutored, I’ve taught - and worked with the worst of the worst. This is really nothing new. The problem isn’t the kids - it’s what they’ve been taught over the years. Fix that, and the kids suddenly seem able to learn. It’s not rocket science. Figure out what they actually know and build on that.
Likely the first and most important building block to lay when repairing the foundation is that the child learn that he is a beloved child of God and loved dearly by Him. I bet after that the other blocks glide easily into place.
My homeschooled children are not any smarter than any child of any poster here on Free Republic. That they are loved by God was woven into every lesson. They loved learning and it was a **privilege** to have been given these children by God to guide and direct. I was a satisfying joy to have guided their learning. Even more satisfying is to see my children teach these principles to my grandchildren....another generation of children who love the Lord and love learning. Could anything be better than that? I think not.
The love of God and Christ's great sacrifice and this encompassing worldview is missing from every government owned and run K-12 school in this nation, and then citizens wonder why we have illiteracy and innumeracy in this nation.
To the government school defenders:
I used the word “all”. If there are any exceptions to the godless worldview that is the official and NON-neutral religious philosophy of our nation's K-12 schools, please send me a link. I will contact the principal to see exactly which specific religious denomination is the prevailing worldview. My bet is it will be the religious worldview of godless secularism and worship of the government as redeemer and savior.
I used the word all. If there are any exceptions to the godless worldview that is the official and NON-neutral religious philosophy of our nation's K-12 schools, please send me a link.
Can't do it, you have asked everyone who disagrees with you NOT to contact you, miss brilliance.
Government school defenders? Is that how you label folks who
take offense at your calling their kids Godless faggot commie drones?
Really?
How about we start calling your kids names like that?
If you don't like it, we'll label you something equally inappropriate.
Can you explain what this sentence means? I don't understand your grammar.
Clearly you have been posting negatively about FR posters as more of your posts have been deleted than not.
I have met humblegunner's children and they certainly are not Godless faggots. For that matter neither are mine so either supply proof that they are or apologize.
You are a government defender with Godless faggot commie drone kids.
She has politely and respectfully requested that no one ping or respond
to her if they object to having their kids called Godless faggot commie drones.
Thanks for letting me know.
Her post would probably just be pulled anyway.
I will say though, if this is an example of the typical homeschooler's courage it is severely wanting.
I’m giving serious thought to including her in every post I
make so that she can better document my government defense.
As well as other serious character defects I may have.
Overall I estimate that this will improve the quality of her name calling by at least 60 to 80%.
It does no good to petition, or debate, or argue, with anyone connected to public schools or with anyone who supports them. Parents are ultimately responsible for their childrens' education, or lack thereof.
Unfortunately, Mr. Schuls never mentioned homeschooling as an option in his article. It only took us a few meetings with public school people back in 1998 to determine that their priority is permanent employment and funding, not education.
The conclusion to Mr. Schuls' article:
Conclusion
Over and over my wife and I kept saying to ourselves, If this is how they treat us, I cant imagine how they treat the other parents. If a teacher from that same school district and a former teacher finishing a Ph.D. in Education Policy cannot change what is clearly an absurd practice in their childrens school, imagine what happens when a less connected family has a problem that needs to be solved. Sending our children to private schools takes up an enormous amount of our household budget, and quite frankly, it should not. In the United State of America, all families, rich and poor, white and minority, should have access to a high-quality education for their children. Schools should be responsive to the wishes of parents. But, as long as the barriers for taking kids out of the school system are so high, very few families are going to be able to hold schools accountable.
This problem was and is real for us and it is real for families across the country. This is just one of the reasons states should expand school choice for all students. Though opponents wish to portray schools and school districts as bastions of democracy, they are not. The power is clearly stacked against parents, and it is stacked that way because it can be. Until we empower parents with school vouchers, tuition-tax credit scholarships, and charter schools, my familys struggle, and the struggle of families similar to mine, will continue.
I hesitated about switching to FR from a C-Span board for precisely that reason . . . but I decided that the leftist arguments I was debating against were all becoming twice-told tales in any event.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.